Evolution/Background

Over many years, many within the W3C and the W3C TAG have discussed a variety of issues relating to the evolution of Web standards. An early work plan for web evolution and the design requirements can be found in [Evolvability]: a 1998 design note by Tim Berners-Lee on a [keynote at WWW7].

The TAG has worked in the area of extensibility and evolution, and has produced a number of [findings] related to the topic:

Many of the perspectives in [Evolvability] -- written as a reaction to the HTML cycle -- were rejected. Rather, the HTML cycle has been retained, but in a modified form. The principles outlined -- use of namespaces, use of URIs to denote namespaces, "follow your nose" and other principles -- need to be reexamined in terms of this course correction.

This Wiki is intended to provide a perspective for bridging between the evolution of HTML and other components of the web space, and to rationalize the divergent perspectives [irreconcillable differences].